Skirt convertible into a jacket and vice versa



March 11', .1958 B. MERL 2 ,825,905

SKIRT CONVERTIBLE INTO A JACKET AND VICE VERSA Filed April 17, 1956 IN VEN TOR. EE'EW/Z 267195 f? {2 BY v 2,825,905 Patented Mar. .11, 1958 SKIRT CONVERTIELEINTO A JACKET AND VICE VERSA Bernie Merl, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application April 17, 1956,-Serial No. 578,758

1 Claim. (cl. 2-211) This invention relates to convertible garments which can serve either as an upper outer garment or a lower outer garment, and particularly to what I choose to term a skirt convertible into a jacket and vice versa.

The main object of my invention isto produce a special skirt that is of such nature as to fulfill the office and purpose of a skirt, and likewise may be converted to a suitable jacket which is no meremakeshift but an actually fitting jacket.

Another object of my invention'is to provide such a skirt at-certain portions thereon with manually operated meansfor constricting the erstwhile waist line of the skirt into the neck line of the jacket,sothat the garment then serves as the latter.

A further object of this invention is to have a convertible garment of the character indicated which is of the wrap around type and capable of being opened in front and provided with buttoning means for retaining the garment closed when desired and render the conversion from jacket to skirt and vice versa speedy and convenient.

An additional object of the invention is to have a pair of sleeves upon the garment for the jacket when it is used as such, and fastener means for attaching the sleeves at their outer or lower ends to the garment so as to form pleats when the garment serves as a skirt.

Yet another object of the invention is to include such an effective design of the fabric and the cut of the garment, that in each form, the skirt or jacket will appear to best advantage and shape as a proper and comfortable Well fitting garment.

A practical object of the invention is of course to have a special double use garment which readily lends itself to manufacture in any price range in order to reach all classes and thus increase sales to the greatest number.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in further detail as the specification proceeds.

In order to facilitate ready comprehension of this invention for a proper appreciation of the salient features thereof, the invention is illustrated on the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the convertible skirt or jacket garment embodying the invention in a practical form, the garment being shown when worn as a skirt;

Figure 2 is another perspective view of the same garment of Figure 1 when worn as a jacket;

Figure 3 is a partial vertical section of the garment as taken on line 3-3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a layout plan view of the garment as a whole;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevation of part of the garment of Figures 1 and 4;

Figure 6 is another fragmentary elevation of the same portion of the garment when the latter serves as a jacket; and

Figure 7 is a transverse section of the garment as taken on line 77 in Figure 6.

Throughout the views, the same reference numerals indicate the same or like parts and features.

When ladies travel to the country and to seaside resorts, they frequently sun themselves and bathe, but find it inconvenient to reach their hotel or resort rooms because it is not looked upon as proper for them to enter lobbies, foyers or corridors merely in sun or bathing suits. For this reason, they sometimes take capes, jackets, shawls or skirts with them for temporary use, but this limits them to a single garment, unless they have taken the trouble and gone to the expense of taking along several different garments. It is a situation that poses a problem, because two or more types of garments are involved.

Upon considering this problem, it has occurred to me that a special convertible outer garment should be available for the majority ofall ladies at the beach and in the country, in order to provide them with a choice. of garment to be worn, according to the occasion. As a result, I have succeeded in producing a combination skirt or jacket garment along the lines already mentioned, which will now be described in detail in the following.

Hence, in the practice-of my invention, and referring. also again to the drawing, the convertible garment, generally indicated at 8 as a skirt in Figure 1 and also in Figure 5, is made up of a pair of opposite end panels 9 and ltl'of any. type of fabric desired, and may even be terry cloth, if preferred. Between the end panels arev secured a series of relatively'narrower panels 11, 12, 13 and 14, the lower ends of all being wider than the upper ends, so that the upper resulting edge generally noted at 15 forms either a Waist line or a neck line, as the case may be, while the bottom edge 16 is much wider. The upper edge has a pair of triangular inserts 17 and 18 sewed into separate sections between panels 9 and 11 at one side, and panels 14 and 10 on the other side, with one edge 19 of insert 17 and one edge of insert 18 at 20 forming part of general upper edge 15 to form the waist line of the skirt 8.

At the lower ends of these inserts are cut arm holes 21 and 22 to which sleeves 23 and 24 are fitted for use when the garment serves as a jacket. The entire garment and its sleeves as well may have a terry cloth lining or any other lining desired, which is also true of the garment without sleeves in my copending application. In any event, the insert 17 at its side edges is bounded by a pair of mating portions 25, 26 of a slide fastener device as well as a slider 27 for closing or bringing them together in locking engagement, and in similar fashion, the other insert 18 has the fastener portions 28 and 29 with a slider 30 to bring them into closing relation at will. Then, again, the end panels 9 and 10 are adapted to be secured together by a button 31 on panel 9 and a corresponding button hole 32 in panel 10.

The arrangement is such that, when the garment is intended to form a skirt as in Figures 1 and 5, the inserts 17 and 18 are wide open and the waist line 15 about the Waist 33 of the wearer 34 is its widest, the skirt being held by button 31, while the sleeves 23 and 24 tend to hang down at the sides. In order to ensure that the sleeves cling to the sides of the skirt, they have the fastener members 35, 36 mounted upon their inner sides at their outer ends, while the sides panels 9 and 10 have the corresponding fasteners 37 and 38 so that the sleeves may be snapped into engagement with the skirt sides, then appearing as ample pleats on the skirt.

When the garment is to be used as a jacket, the slide fasteners 27 and 30 are pulled up to conceal and bridge inserts 17 and 18 and reduce the waist line 15 to a relatively narrower neck line 39 with a shoulder 40 formed above each sleeve 36 as best seen in Figures 2 and 6, the other shoulder 41 being similar to 40, and both fit- 3 ting perfectly the shoulders 42 and 43 of the lady 34 when she is disposed at 44- with the garment as a jacket and her arms 45, 46 extending through sleeves 23 and 24-. The upper corners 47 and 48 may be folded cutward to form lapels as shown in Figure 2 when desired. The inserts 17 and 18 are merely folded inwardly and bridged over by closed fasteners 49 and 50 to form the shoulders 4-0 and 41 and also reduce the upper edge to a proper neck line 39 as stated.

When this garment is again to be used as a skirt, the sleeves are pulled away from the skirt sides to release fasteners 35 and 36 from 37 and 38, the sliders 27 and 30 pulled down again to open the inserts to full width and restore the neck line to a waist line.

Manifestly, variations may be resorted to, and parts and features may be modified or used without others within the scope of the appended claim.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim:

A convertible skirt and jacket garment of the character described including a fabric wrap around type garment terminating at the sides in a pair of meeting ends adapted to be secured together and having a relatively wide bottom edge and a relatively narrow concave upper edge alternatively forming a waist line and a neck line, said garment being constructed from a plurality of upwardly tapered panels secured together along upwardly converging seam lines, selective means for removably securing the ends of said garment together, releasable means for alternately restricting limited portions of the waist line upper edge to form the neck line and releasing said limited portions of the neck line to form the waist line, the limited portions of the waist line upper edge ineluding inserts spaced apart and spaced from the ends of said garment and each having mating portions of hookless fasteners for sealing the inserts to restrict the waist line upper edge to form the narrow neck line, release of said hookless fasteners being adapted to form the Waist line, each said insert being of substantially triangular configuration having one edge forming a part of the general waist line upper edge of the garment with the fastener portions secured along the other two edges of each insert, and said other two edges of said insert defining an apex intersecting With one of said seam lines to alternatively provide a proper shoulder and hip line, a pair of sleeves secured at their upper extremity to said apex defining sides of said inserts at substantially diametrically opposite sides of said garment in symmetrical arrangement with said respective triangular inserts and intersecting seam line, and releasable fastening means carried by the opposite lower extremity of said sleeves and the adjacent portions of said garment for securing said sleeves in close proximity with said garment when said garment is arranged for use as a skirt.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 260,565 Hamilton July 4, 1882 471,903 Shelton Mar. 29, 1892 965,552 Bankart July 26, 1910 1,519,557 Sharrock Dec. 16, 1924 2,075,238 Stephens et a1. Mar. 30, 1937 2,317,768 Holland et al. Apr. 27, 1943 2,591,513 Cormier Apr. 1, 1952 

